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Student Summit Addresses International Volunteer Projects

Students from around the world will come together Thursday – Sunday (Feb. 23 – 26) at Northwestern to discuss and workshop volunteer projects at the first-ever International Youth Volunteerism Summit.

Participants were chosen based on the submission of a volunteer project proposal. The visiting students have proposed projects ranging from tsunami relief in Thailand to HIV/AIDS in Africa to girls soccer leagues in Morocco. At least one project will be chosen by IYVS for implementation.

Seventy-five students, selected from over 500 applicants, are coming from over 30 schools, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke and Georgetown, and from over 20 countries including Morocco, Singapore, Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan, Guatemala and Romania. Northwestern has five students attending; the University of Illinois has two.

The Summit kicks off Thursday at 7 p.m. with a banquet and opening address. Friday, the delegates will begin with “World Breakfasts” at 8 a.m. followed by a day of panel discussions and an evening keynote debate. Delegates will attend workshops at 9 a.m. Saturday, project presentations at 11:30 a.m. and afternoon workshops with Chicago-based non-governmental organizations at 1:30 p.m. The closing luncheon and keynote address is at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. All activities will take place at the Norris University Center.

After the summit, students will be invited to rework their project proposals and apply for financial support to implement their projects.